Da Moon

[timbertoes]

:)

Used the MF Vivitar 250mm f4.5, and 2x tele adapter, on the E500.

[3dpan]

I'd be proud of that image too.

Funny though, looks the same as our moon except it's upside-down. :confused:

Alec

[E B]

Nice image. You got some pretty good contrast there. Use a filter?

[acme]

This is my first effort putting an E-330 on a serious telescope. It's a four shot composite from the prime focus of a 2000mm f10.

Seeing wasn't great, and it's received extensive post processing, hence the somewhat unreal look.

[timbertoes]

Killer Shot, Acme!
What Scope were you using ?

I did not use a filter. Did use some PP of course :)

[Allo]

Wow, I like this shot alot, detail on the crators is very good.

Thanks for sharing!

[AbeakerZ]

Nice shot timbertoes.

Not many people realize it but it is a hard subject to photograph well. At a shorter focal length it is hard to resist the urge to crop and pp like crazy to get the detail. I've done it and have been dissappointed in my results. At the longer focal lengths it is amazing how fast that sucker moves through the frame.

Using the 600mm 6.5 OM basooka I have room for margin of error and the ability to crop where I want the framing to be, even at perigee. I put a 2x teleconverter on it as I wanted a big wall hanger and then lost shot after shot with the moon in the corner of the frame. That and the fact that it is really hard to manually focus that lens at that distance. Moving the focus knob a micron seems to adjust the focus a few thousand kilometers or so. Thank goodness digital film is cheap.

I know this isn't the critique forum but here are some things that helped me.

#1 Use mirror lock up. You probably already know this but some others may need this info. I use from 3 to 5 seconds, thus enhancing the number of shots where the moon is in the corner of the frame. Planning for trajectory is an exercise in patience.

#2 the average tripod is woefully undersized for large lenses taking photographs of something 54,000 odd kilometers away. My tripod weighs about 8 pounds without the head attached. I can see the camera move when the mirror slaps and when the shutter actuates. My tripod has the arms that attach the legs to the center column so I tie a spool of wire to them for stability. It weighs about 30 pounds and that solidifies things a bit.

A friend has a 60 pound or so wooden tripod that he will loan to me to try again but I suspect that I will still have to sandbag (read tie spool of wire to it) it. Also don't raise the center column. That really makes things flop about when the mirror and shutter actuate. It can be uncomfortable but crouch down under the camera.

It does help to shoot when the moon is rising in the late afternoon and you aren't shooting straight up. You do run into the problems of not enough contrast to accurately focus and shooting at an angle through the atmosphere though.

#3 You may not have this problem where you are but I live in the desert. It is dusty anyway and living in a large city (Phoenix AZ) we are also plagued with awful air pollution. The light pollution of living in a valley of 4 million people or so is dramatic as well. Get out of town if possible when shooting. There is a reason why observatories are located on remote mountaintops.

#4 Use a remote release. I have tried to maunually focus the lens, stop down the aperture, plan for trajectory and then hit the button. With that much fiddling on the camera body, it never stops wobbling in the 5 second lock up time and you get frustrated. I have the cable release on the battery grip for the E300. I have not tried the IR remote as I felt it would be awkward reaching around the camera to make it fire. The tethered remote will however introduce movement to the camera. I sit in a chair behind the camera and hold the wired remote against my leg. when it comes time to press the button, I hold my breath and keep it still until I hear the shutter actuate.

#5 Use a ball head. Unless you are more skilled in adjusting pan/tilt heads than I am (a very real possibility as I am a tripod klutz), using a ball head will make lining up the frame much less aggrevating. I use a grip action ballhead that does decrease my stability for the camera but also increases my level of sanity.

#6 Wind. Even the slightest breeze will make your shots blurry. A 1mm shift in the focal plane of your camera on earth will be a 100 kilometer swing on the subject. It may be more or less as that is a SWAG (scientific wild ***ed guess) but you get the idea.

I've posted my moon shots here before so I won't load up the thread. Should anyone want to see them they are at my pbase album here:

http://www.pbase.com/abeakerz/moon

The first ones are using the 600 only and most are a cropped window of 1600x1200 from the original image. They make for good web posting but not the large wall hanger print I was looking for. The last three are full frame images using the 600 and the 2x teleconverter.

That turned into more of a diatribe than I intended but I know from experience how hard it is to shoot the darn thing. Thankfully it is predictable as to when it will show up again.

Good shot and keep going for it, the results are worth it. Not only is it a good technical exersise, but it is also a beautiful subject.

[InigMntoya]

Used the MF Vivitar 250mm f4.5, and 2x tele adapter, on the E500.
So that's 1000mm (35mm equiv) ??

It looks promising, but for that focal length I'd like to see it bigger. :-)